GREENVILLE – RFPi, a Greenville medical device company, has landed the first Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer grant ever awarded by the National Institutes of Health in Eastern North Carolina or with East Carolina University as the academic research partner.
The company will use the $1.49 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to develop its non-invasive proprietary Multi-spectral Physiologic Visualization (MSPV) platform imaging technology for use with patients suffering from peripheral artery disease. This will include building and testing prototypes with animal models and conducting a clinical evaluation to document safety and efficacy. Following this step, RFPi plans to apply for a subsequent award to fund clinical trials necessary to bring it to market.
RFPi received FDA clearance earlier this year to begin marketing its first form factor of MSPV, called iCertainty, for use in open surgery procedures. iCertainty provides real-time analysis of blood flow and perfusion (the rate at which blood is delivered to tissue, such as through a capillary bed, measured in volume of blood per unit of time per unit of tissue mass) without disruption of the surgery or use of any dyes, contrast or even touching the patient. RFPi videos on the company website show how MSPV and the iCertainty application work.